Tax refund, those are nice words, aren’t they? We all love getting money, especially at tax time. No one likes finishing their taxes and finding they owe Uncle Sam money they don’t have. Are you making a costly mistake when it comes to getting a tax refund?

Save Money on What You Buy Americans are reported to throw away about forty percent of food annually. That’s not far off from throwing away half of our food. As we mentioned last week, some of this may be due to confusion when differentiating between what is safe and unsafe to eat. If you buy

Several years ago we traveled to Spain to join two friends as they wrapped up the last leg of their honeymoon in Ibiza. We had an amazing time and brought lots of memories home with us. We also brought back an affinity for sparkling water. This story tells our circuitous path to money consciousness with water.

We made this pan two weeks ago for dinner, then had leftovers that lasted through the early part of this week. It saved us a lot of cooking. Also, on Sunday night, we were almost tempted to get Chipotle, but decided to go with a healthier option we already had. If this wasn’t in the fridge, we would’ve wasted money and calories. Click the link for our hodge-podge recipe.

Drivers lose eight working days a year due to traffic. Business miss a lot of opportunities with their employees sitting in traffic and, then, calming down once they actually get to work. Sign up for our twice monthly newsletter and get our eBook Do You Know How to Be #MoneyConscious? for FREE! Name: Email:

This calculation takes into account tax deductions. It’s good to know if your refi is worth the investment before applying. Many people refi to lower monthly payments, but there are other considerations, too.

Rick Newman has the perfect title for this article: New Thanksgiving Tradition: Never Stop Shopping. Perfect and, yet, sad. If you have other financial goals than blowing money, you can call a hiatus on the holiday gift-giving. Our family did and so far no one has died. The kids will get gifts; adults will take

I was exercising at the gym this morning and “Big Love” by Fleetwood Mac came on my iPod. I was about the change it when I decided to listen. Lindsay Buckingham’s guitar skills on that song are amazing. When I was listening and doing bent-over-barbell-pulls, it struck me as ironic that two of my favorite albums came from dark places for the artists. Then, I thought, maybe their stories can be an inspiration for others.

Yesterday I went to Batteries Plus to get specialized batteries for our garage door remote and our bathroom scale. The sales rep was already assisting someone, so I attempted to find what we needed on my own. The store is small, so it’s easy to overhear conversations. The woman being helped needed a light bulb. I didn’t get the full context of the conversation because I walked in midway through it. However, the sales rep was clearly confusing her with all her options for a light bulb. The woman could choose amongst different watts, tones, colors, energy efficiency and price. As he was detailing the uniqueness of each option, I laughed.

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